Trainee Journey. The WARNER GOODMAN LLP. Find out how you can have the career you want by starting your journey at Warner Goodman LLP

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1 The WARNER GOODMAN LLP Trainee Journey Issue: December 2016 I wonder what I ll do when I grow up Teacher Business Owner Lawyer I m so pleased I chose the law I can t wait to start my period of recognised training Find out how you can have the career you want by starting your journey at Warner Goodman LLP

2 Our Firm and How We Deliver Warner Goodman LLP are one of the leading law firms in the Solent area and have been delivering legal services for over 160 years. Today the firm employs over 150 people and has offices in Fareham, Portsmouth and Southampton. We offer a host of legal services to businesses and individuals alike, with a wide range of local, national and international clients. There are 6 Groups within the firm: Family Financial Services Residential Conveyancing Commercial Company Commercial Employment Commercial Litigation Commercial Property International Injury Private Client Our clients expect a professional and accurate service and deserve nothing short of this at all times. At Warner Goodman LLP we are proud to have many long standing clients with whom our lawyers have developed working relationships of trust and friendship. We are ISO 9001/2000 accredited, Lexcel accredited and members of LawNet which is the UK s leading group of law firms, brought together by a common commitment to provide legal services of the highest quality. We have developed bespoke online services for our clients, to include online case tracking facilities in residential conveyancing transactions, online bill paying facilities, and we are always looking at ways to expand the development of these services further into our other practice areas. We see great opportunities and challenges ahead as the scope, delivery and marketing of legal services continues to change.

3 Are you a Warner s person? At Warner Goodman LLP we like to think we re slightly different from the rest, not just because of our level of service and what we can offer, but because of the people we employ. We are justifiably proud of our high retention rate at the end of our trainees recognised period of training and many of our current Partners and Associates have successfully completed their training with the firm. A Warner s person is intelligent, enthusiastic, eager to learn, open minded, proactive and resourceful. We expect you to take responsibility for your actions throughout your training. You have great opportunities to test and develop your legal and personal skills. Your responsibilities are commensurate with your abilities and you are encouraged to seek continual innovation and improvement. In today s competitive legal market a sharpness of mind and ability to sense and understand the wider economic, political and commercial implications of the work is vital. Our trainees must balance this with an awareness of what is important to their client and consider the social and personal impact of their actions. While we understand that law is a serious business, we also realise that it is important to balance the high pressures of the modern workplace with an active and fulfilling lifestyle, and not always take ourselves too seriously. Staff members include round the world sailors, former jockeys, cyclists, musicians and even a few skydivers! The firm is located on the South Coast of England and has the New Forest and Solent on its doorstep. Not a bad playground for a dynamic working professional like yourself!

4 Would you like to be a Warner s person? The question is are you a Warner s person? To help you find out, here are 6 stories from our current Trainees, Associate Solicitors and Partners who were once where you are. My name is Georgina savage and I started my period of recognised training on 1st March 2015 and will be qualifying into Commercial Property in December I started my career with the firm in 2012 when I worked part-time to gain work experience. I then became a Paralegal in September 2014 within the Commercial Property team based in Portsmouth. My first seat remained with this team before I moved to the Employment team based in Southampton. My final seat has been in Company Commercial, also based in Southampton. I am delighted that I have been able to spend my time training in the commercial based teams as I had always wanted to qualify into this side of law. I applied for a training contract with Warner Goodman LLP as I could see from my time as a Paralegal that there was a clear ladder of progression for those who worked hard. The firm is large enough to experience different areas of law and get a variety of work, but also small enough to still feel a sense of community and know colleagues from all offices. In each team there is a good network of support, and the Partners can always find the time to explain something. I found this particularly important because the last thing I wanted was to feel like I did not grasp a matter and have no-one to look to for guidance. Another element for which I am grateful is the firm s encouraging ethos towards further development and training. I studied for my LPC while working full-time and everyone was incredibly supportive, showing me that they are interested in not only what I can offer to the firm, but also how they can support my personal development. In terms of my future, in the short term I plan to qualify into Commercial Property and find my feet as a newly qualified solicitor; meeting targets and building up my own client base. In the long term I would like to work my way up to Partner level and I can see this happening at Warner Goodman LLP because it is clear that they recognise and reward hard work. The highlight of my period of recognised training has been delivering a presentation on behalf of the Employment team during one of their seminars. I have always feared public speaking but the team made me feel very at ease and I received positive feedback. The experience helped me to develop the skill of presenting which is used a lot as a Trainee and will be invaluable as a solicitor. Georgina say s

5 My name is Hannah Rogers and I started my period of recognised training in September My first seat was in Residential Conveyancing based in the Fareham office before I moved to the Portsmouth based Commercial Property team. I am now currently in the Family department in Southampton, so it s been eye-opening to have worked in all three offices. Prior to becoming a Trainee I worked for Warner Goodman LLP as an administration assistant/file opener in the Residential Conveyancing team. I had just finished my LPC and could tell from my first few weeks that this was an extremely welcoming and supportive firm, and so I gave in my application for a training contract then. I felt that applying at the firm I was currently working would show my level of dedication to a future with the firm, whilst also getting the experience of what it would be like to work as a solicitor. I am due to qualify in less than a year, and at the moment I still have my options open as to which department I would like to qualify in to. I am thoroughly enjoying my time in Family and could see myself qualifying as a family solicitor. Once I qualify, I am keen to become completely competent and confident within my area of expertise and in the future would like to be in the position to become a Partner. A number of the current Partners started their careers as Trainees at Warner Goodman LLP, and have been sharing their experiences with me. It s reassuring to know that my future career is of importance and the firm is willing to invest in my development. It s clear, even from my relatively short time here, that the Partners and Business Heads are keen to give recognition to those who work hard and have ambitions to further their career here. The highlight so far has been having files in my own name during my time in Residential Conveyancing. To actually be the fee-earner on a transaction from start to finish has given me a real sense of accomplishment as well as a taste of what is to come once I qualify. Hannah say s My name is Lauren Sessions and I qualified as a solicitor on 1st November I started my period of training in November 2014 after working as a Paralegal for two months in Personal Injury. My first seat was a six month seat continuing with the team in Personal Injury, before moving on for a five month seat in Commercial Property.

6 My third seat was in Commercial Litigation before moving back to Commercial Property, where I have now taken a permanent position in the Southampton based team. When it came to deciding where I wanted to do my period of training, it was important for me to think about where I d best fit in, both in terms of the firm I would work for and the location in which I would play out my career. Having grown up in nearby Romsey, Warner Goodman LLP had always been on my radar as a well-established and longstanding local firm. However, the firm really stood out to me in my search for a best-fit firm because it has such a good reputation locally as being unpretentious and friendly. My ambition is to develop my knowledge in my chosen field of qualification until I am able to provide innovative solutions to my clients problems. I have no doubt that this is achievable at Warner Goodman LLP because despite only being with the firm for a short time, I have already seen the firm s commitment to my personal development. I have been exposed to several high value and complex matters that might normally have been reserved for the more senior fee earners; I am regularly invited to attend seminars as part of my ongoing professional development; and most importantly, the firm operates an open-door policy that I have taken full advantage of! Lauren say s The highlight of my period of training came during my Personal Injury seat. I was sent to Bristol Magistrates Court to sit in on a Health and Safety Executive prosecution in relation to an accident at work. The company being prosecuted was the defendant in a personal injury claim of which my supervisor had conduct and some of the information that came out of the criminal hearing was relevant to the civil proceedings. My name is Dan Thompson and I am currently a Partner within the Personal Injury team. I am also Marketing Partner and Trainee Partner for the firm. I started my period of training in August 1997, and qualified in September I chose Warner Goodman LLP for my period of training as it was a local firm with an excellent reputation. My favourite seat during my period of training was Personal Injury. There was such a variety of work involved, and it is one department where you really get to know your client.

7 The difference between a successful and unsuccessful claim can really shape their future, so it s such a sense of achievement if you are successful in recovering compensation for them so they can rebuild their lives. It was the opportunity to make such a difference to a person s life that attracted me to the department in the first place, and that drive has only increased year on year. Once I had completed my period of training there was a position vacant in the Personal Injury team and so I jumped at the opportunity to further my career as a Personal Injury lawyer, and one day become a Partner. The firm recognised my ambition and allowed me to exert my independence in the role and was given responsibility early on following my qualification. The ethos of the firm is to nurture and support our trainees and encourage them to grow and become part of the future of the firm. There isn t necessarily one highlight I can pick in my career, as the real highlights are the people I work with and help every day. The firm is well known as being a friendly, people-orientated firm, and I whole-heartedly agree with that. Our staff and clients are the main reason why I have continued, and thoroughly enjoy, my career as a lawyer at Warner Goodman LLP. Dan say s My name is sarah Whitemore and I am currently a Partner within the Employment Team, as well as an Equity Partner for the firm. I started my training in September 1992, and qualified in October I had worked for the Courts of Justice in Southampton before going to University and so was familiar with Warner Goodman & Streat (as the firm then was) as a south coast law firm with a good reputation. Back in the day it wasn t as formalised as having specific seats to work through. I enjoyed dealing with employee issues albeit we didn t have a department or team just dealing with employment law as it was part of a civil litigation partner s portfolio. At the time I qualified there was no employment team at the firm. A management consultant came to review the structure of the firm and he talked with me as a trainee solicitor. He asked what I would do on qualification and I said that I wanted to deal with employment matters but that we didn t

8 have a team. His response was to either leave and find a firm with an existing team or to stay and help the firm to grow its own. I liked the ambition of starting something from new where I could be influential in the strategy and development of the practice. I m now an Equity Partner in charge of a vibrant team delivering employment law services to employers up and down the country. Whilst there s always room for expansion I have achieved what I set out to do. Highlight of my career maybe? Either the business development trip to the Great Wall of China or being flown to lunch at Lake Annecy in France doesn t happen too often post recession I m afraid! Sarah say s My name is steve Grant and I am Partner and Head of the Commercial Department. I started my training in September 2001, and qualified in September My favourite seat during my training was Employment. I spent 13 months there and was confident that I would go on to do it once I had qualified. However, when the time came to qualify there were no obvious vacancies for a newly qualified solicitor in Employment but the firm needed company commercial solicitors. That was my next favourite practice area and I saw it as an opportunity to progress my career quickly because the team was small and needed to grow. I knew that I could play a key part in the team s growth. On qualifying I stayed with the firm because of the people that I had met here. There is a really strong brand within the firm we are friendly, supportive, unpretentious and entrepreneurial. I always found interviews particularly nervewracking because there was so much at stake. When I arrived for interview at Warner Goodman LLP the Managing Partner s first question was, what team do you support? having noted that I am a football fan. That instantly put me at ease and I feel that I did myself justice from there on. A couple of days after accepting the training with Warner Goodman LLP I was offered one with Clyde & Co in the City. I turned them down because I felt so comfortable with Warner Goodman LLP and knew that I would have a better work/life balance. I have always wanted to become a Partner in a law firm and have a management role and I felt that I would have a better chance of achieving that here.

9 It s a really good place to work. People really are friendly and supportive. The size of the firm also means that we can truly be entrepreneurial and develop our work the way we would like. We have some great clients too. We have a very wide range of clients from sole traders to multinational companies. I have always learned a lot from clients. The work is very interesting. Warner Goodman LLP also have a history of promoting people based on a broad and sensible range of performance criteria and not just experience. I was promoted to Associate within two years, to Partner within five years and was made Head of the Commercial Group within 9 years of qualifying. The firm has always given me the resources and facilities to develop in the way that I have wanted. Steve say s To this day, my highlight has to be the day I was offered a job post-qualification as that went on to shape my career. Now that you re inspired by the stories you ve read and you know that you re a Warner s person, what about the recognised period of training itself? Your training will be as unique as you. Balancing the commercial needs of the firm s busy departments, we try to give you as much variety and experience of both the law and our offices different working environments and cultures as possible, whilst at the same time offering you the experience and training in disciplines of interest to you. Your training will comprise of 3 distinct areas of law and practise. You may be asked to work at any of the firm s main offices, which will give you the opportunity to meet as many people as possible throughout the firm and amongst our clients, and help you begin to establish your own reputation and following. Our Training Partner and you will agree a suitable training programme giving you experience in at least 3 of the following areas: Family and Matrimonial Law Civil and Injury Litigation Private client wills, probate, trusts, tax planning Commercial Property Employment Law Company Commercial Commercial Litigation Residential Conveyancing

10 Your responsibilities will include: Attendance at Court Attendance with Counsel Client contact, obtaining instructions and giving advice Drafting and proof reading documents General office duties and procedures required by the Accounts Department Legal routines and procedures Liaising with other professionals, suppliers and advisers of the firm Negotiation Research using traditional and modern methods Your support and guidance doesn t end once your training does. We understand that being a newly qualified solicitor can be daunting, and believe that you are the future of our firm, so we will continue your support and training throughout your career with us. As you ve read in the stories, one of the main reasons why people stay with us is the support they receive. Find out exactly what s on offer here Professional Skills Course During your training the firm will pay for the costs of your PSC and examination fees and all necessary books to cover the course. The PSC involves attendance at a series of courses run through the year lasting for approximately 11 working days. It is not envisaged that any study leave will be required for the PSC prior to attendance at any course or any examination.

11 Social Time and Networking We are proud of our trainees and encourage you to play a full role in the development of the firm and to get to know both our staff and clients alike. In order to not only develop your legal experience, you will also be encouraged to participate in networking events and to be an ambassador of the firm, to prepare you for all activities that will lie ahead in your future career. New trainees are invited to a lunch in the summer before they start their training where you will be able to meet our other current trainees. This is a pleasant way of making new friends before your first day in the office. Our Trainees are encouraged to take an active role in networking events, as well as activities organised by the firm including charity events and sports challenges.

12 So, you ve made up your mind that you are a Warner s person and you d like to apply to join us for your period of recognised training. It couldn t be simpler to take the next step just visit our website warnergoodman.co.uk, complete our online application form and submit it to us! Trainee Solicitor Application Form PERSONAL I wish to commence my training year in: Full name: Address: Telephone number: address: Post code: about me Date of Birth: Nationality: Please describe briefly what you are seeking from your period of training We currently seek to employ 2 new Trainee Solicitors every year. Our trainees are Graduates who have passed the Academic and Legal Practice stages of their training as required by the Law Society. At interview you will demonstrate to us that you have a high intellectual capability, that you are adept at problem solving, have excellent communication skills, that you are a Warner s person, and understand and show an appreciation of the firm s core values and ethos. Please give details of one academic and one personal reference Name: Name: Address: Address: Telephone: Telephone: Undergraduate education University or College Degree Studied Degree grade Year Subjects of any thesis, dissertation or project undertaken and grades awarded. You will show academic excellence throughout your studies and will have achieved a Degree (whether or not in law) with a classification of at least a 2.i. Your online application must be received no later than the 31st July in the period 2 years preceding the anticipated start of your period of training. Interviews are conducted in the Autumn by the firm s Managing Partner, Ed Voller, and Training Partner, Dan Thompson. You will have the opportunity to meet informally with a current trainee or newly qualified solicitor to discuss life at Warner Goodman LLP. Are you our next successful trainee? There s only one way to find out! Apply today at warnergoodman. co.uk. Want to stand out from the rest? Send your funniest lawyer joke to our Training Partner along with your application! EDUCATION Regulated by The Solicitors Regulation Authority. Authorised and regulated by The Financial Conduct Authority.